DUAL-PROCESSING IN VALUE SELF-CONFRONTATION - THE ROLE OF NEED FOR COGNITION

Rokeach (1973) developed the method of value self-confrontation (VSC) in an attempt to change people's behavior by changing the value hierar chy underlying that behavior. The present research examined the role o f need for cognition, defined by Cacioppo, Petty, and Kao (1984) as an individual's tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive ende avors, in the VSC process. Two studies demonstrated that the VSC proce dure was equally effective for college-age participants, regardless of their level of need for cognition. The second study suggested that th e equivalent value change was mediated by differential routes of proce ssing. Specifically, low need for cognition participants reported a si gnificantly greater reliance on normative information (indicative of p eripheral processing) while participants high in the need for cognitio n reported significantly greater expenditure of cognitive effort (indi cative of central route processing). Practical implications of these f indings for individual and social applications of VSC and future resea rch directions are discussed.